Biography

Education

MFA in Painting and Intermedia Art, Academy of Arts, University of Banja Luka (B&H)

2019

BA in Graphic Design, Academy of Arts, University of Banja Luka (B&H)

Milena Ivić (b. 1995, Novi Sad) is an artist, designer and activist based in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. She works across various media, such as public intervention, installation, objects, performance, and video. Her practice examines the paradox of freedom in a post-war divided country, within political, economic, religious, ethno-national, and cultural contexts.

Ivić is the recipient of the 2025 ZVONO Art Award for Young Visual Artist in B&H. Milena’s graduate work was awarded a solo exhibition by MSURS, Banja Luka, B&H (2019). Her critical engagement with MSURS’s Gallery Plus during the solo exhibition project What Do We Do with All This Freedom? (2020) earned her the status of a dissident artist. Experiences of institutional censorship in her city of residence have influenced her practice to occupy public space. Employing conceptual, performative, and feminist strategies through provocative and socially engaged approach, she continuously explores how art can initiate dialogue, disrupt dominant paradigms, and intervene in reality, extending beyond institutional confines.

Milena participated in residencies (Nona Residency, Sarajevo, 2022; Atelijeri Žitnjak, Zagreb, 2024), and contributed to panels, workshops, and symposiums including Art of Peace, Sarajevo, B&H and Perth, Australia (2024). She is a member at the Association for Culture and Art Crvena and co-founder of SOBA, an initiative for horizontal collaboration among artists, activists, theorists, and performers.

Solo Exhibitions

2020

What Do We Do with All This Freedom?, Gallery Plus, Banja Luka (B&H)

Selected Group Exhibitions

2026

Invisible Tissue, Center for Culture, Tuzla (B&H)

2025

Invisible Tissue, KRAK Center for Contemporary Culture, Bihać (B&H)

2025

April Meetings, Student Cultural Center, Belgrade (Serbia)

2024

Blue, Purple, Green, Yellow, Association for Culture and Art Crvena, Sarajevo (B&H)

2023

Form Embraced, Goethe-Institut, Sarajevo (B&H)

2022

The Economy of (Female) Labor, Mini Studio, Pristina (Kosovo)

2021

Super-exposure 01, Cultural Center Trebinje, Trebinje (B&H)

2020

Reconstruction: Four Views of the Contemporary Art Scene of the Republic of Srpska, Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka (B&H)

2019

World Biennial Exhibition of Student Posters, Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad (Serbia)

2018

Us Punctums, Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka (B&H)

Residencies, Festivals & Campuses

2024

Residency Program in Žitnjak, Art Studios Žitnjak, Zagreb (Croatia)

2024

Street Arts Festival, Rezon Association, Mostar (B&H)

2023

New Generation Media Art Award Workshops, Goethe-Institut, Sarajevo (B&H)

2022

Nona Residency, Sarajevo (B&H)

2021

Super-exposure 01, Campus for Photography and Contemporary Art, Workshops with Misha Kuball, Cultural Center Trebinje (B&H)

Awards & Scholarships

2025

ZVONO Art Award, YVAA – Young Visual Artists Awards (B&H)

2020

BONA Magazine Award, "Cleaning as Punishment: A Feminist Reading of the Pop Culture Phenomenon", Published in the Anthology "Loud and Clear", pp. 7-14, Sarajevo (B&H)

2019

Award for Best Work at the Final Exhibition for Graduating Students, Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka (B&H)

2019

Shortlist, World Biennial of Student Poster and Photography, Academy of Arts, University of Novi Sad, Novi Sad (Serbia)

2017

Scholarship from the Fund “Dr Milan Jelić”

2017

Best Painting Study Award

2016

Scholarship from the Ministry of Education and Culture

2016

Best Drawing Study Award